How To Start Decluttering

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Deciding to declutter your house is a pretty big project. How and where to start? Maybe you already know the answer to “where”, because there’s one area of your home which is crying out for decluttering. If not, think about which area gives you the most pain.

Are you ashamed to let visitors in the living room or the kitchen? Is the hall closet an avalanche waiting to happen? Does the basement or garage need a shovel or even a small bulldozer to get to the far side?

Another way of picking a starting point, especially if you can only work for short periods, is to work on a small, limited area you can finish quickly. Then it won’t overflow into the rest of the house. One drawer, one cabinet, one shelf or one box might be a good choice. You could also divide a larger area into sections or chunks and work on them separately

Once you’ve decided where to work, grab your tools. Most important are containers for the stuff you’ll be moving around. Sturdy cardboard boxes are great for things which will move to other places in the house, or out of the house for recycling or gifting. Big, tough garbage bags for the junk are another essential. You might want gloves if you’re working somewhere dirty or dusty like the attic or basement (and even a dust mask if it’s really bad). And once you’ve decluttered this area you’ll probably want to clean it, especially if there are places which haven’t seen the light of day for some time, so stock up on the cleaning tools and supplies you prefer to use.

Arm yourself with containers for these categories:

* Trash (actual garbage)

* Give away (to the thrift store, neighbors, friends or family)

* Recycle (glass, plastic, paper etc which can be recycled in your community)

* Sell (if you have things which might be worth something at a garage sale or on eBay. Be practical here, though: most things are not worth the trouble and time to sell them).

* Elsewhere (things to be kept, but which don’t belong in this area you’re working on)

* Pending (things you can’t decide about. This should be a VERY SMALL category!)

* Keep (things which will go back into the space you’ve just cleared out)

When you’re ready, get started. You can check out my other articles and my website for more details, but the basic principle is simple: if you don’t use it, love it, or need it, get rid of it. You get to decide the definitions of “use”, “love” and “need”, in this context.

When you’ve filled some bags and boxes, don’t let them hang around for long on their journey to the dump or the thrift store. Not only are the boxes of stuff clutter in themselves, it’s too easy to change your mind and start pulling stuff back out! If you’ve got large furniture to get rid of, or a lot of boxes, some charities will do a pickup, so take advantage of that if it’s available. If your community has a day for putting out large items at the curb for pickup, make use of the opportunity! Take boxes and bags all the way out to the car instead of piling them by the door, so that next time you’re out they are ready and waiting to be dropped off at their destination.

Written by Robin Gray - She presents local organizing workshops in coastal BC, Canada and writes on decluttering and organizing at Declutter First! To learn more, visit her website at www.declutterorganization.com